Basics of Homebrewing - Your First Batch (Short) Summary: Congratulations! Your first homebrew is a very exciting event and we are committed to making the process as smooth and enjoyable as possible. In this love2learn exclusive we’ll walk you through the entire process; from preparation to bottling this guide will answer the questions you are likely to have while embarking on your homebrew journey. Equipment: The following is a summary of the equipment you will need to brew successfully. Sanitizer – Sanitation is incredibly important to the brewing process. Keeps equipment clean and prevents infections. Boiling Kettle (5 gal. Pot) – Used to boil your wort. (Coming soon from love2brew; for now you may be able to use an existing pot you own) Large Spoon – Important for stirring your wort. This helps to prevent burning of your malt extracts and prevents your wort from boiling over. Funnel – Used to transfer your wort to the carboy. (Not necessary for fermenting buckets). Fermentation Vessel – Used to ferment your beer/wine; multiple options available. Fermentation Lock – Helps to prevent infection and oxidization of your beer during fermentation. Hydrometer – Used to measure original and final gravity which will be used to determine the range of alcohol in your beer. Thermometer – Used to determine the temperature of your water & wort; important to have when steeping grains in a basic kit. Siphon Kit or Auto Siphon – Used to transfer your beer between your fermentation vessels as well as your bottling bucket. Bottles – Used after fermentation is complete; bottles add a nice touch to your finished product and make for easy sharing. Please note that screw cap bottles will not work. Bottle Caps – Needed to proper seal your bottles to ensure proper bottle carbonation. Bottle Filler – Makes bottling a much easier process The majority of these items may be found in our Basic Equipment Kit and our Complete Equipment Kit. Ingredients: We have a large variety of Ingredient Kits that are available depending on what style of beer you would like to brew. The vast majority of beers are primarily composed of the following ingredients: Malt, Hops, Yeast, and Water. If you’ve taken the time to look around www.love2brew.com you’ll notice that those four ingredients are comprised of a significant number of choices. Depending on the kit you start with there may be some specialty grains, spices, and/or sugars. Water is a very important component to your beer; the basic rule of thumb is that if the water you are using is good enough to drink directly then it will be good for brewing. You’re going to need about 6 gallons of water for your brew. Pre-Boil: Equipment/Ingredients: Yeast / Brew Kettle / Water (2.5 - 3.5 gallons) / Specialty Grains Add 2.5 gallons of water to your brew kettle. Water that is acceptable for you to drink is acceptable to use. Spring water may also be used. Note: If your recipe does not have use any specialty grains please skip ahead to the Boil stage. Specialty grains are used to add some additional flavor and color to your finished beers. The process of steeping grains is akin to making tea; you add your specialty grains to a grain bag, tie it up, and place it in the hot water (150-160°F). Allow grains too steep for 20-30 minutes and maintain temperature as best as possible by reducing flame on stove. Do not allow water temperature to exceed 170°F while steeping. Remove grains using a spoon after the allotted time. Boil: Equipment/Ingredients: Malt Extracts / Hops Heat your water until it begins to boil. Once you have reached the boiling point you are now ready to add your Malt Extracts. Upon addition of your malt you will create wort! (pronounced “wert”). Malt: Follow your instructions and add your malt extracts to the boil. Make sure to constantly stir during this process in order to mix the wort well and avoid burning of your malt extracts (especially liquid malt extract or LME). It is important to keep your eye on the wort at this stage in the brewing process as foam will result due to the proteins present in the malt and could boil over onto your stove if not properly watched. Once the hot break occurs your wort will enter a rolling boil. Hops: Similar to your malt extracts, hop additions will be performed on a timed schedule called a “hop schedule”. The schedule is an important part of achieving the desired results within your beer so, as you begin brewing you should pay close attention to the hop schedule the recipe calls for and follow it accurately. Spices/Other Additions: Depending on the recipe you may be adding some spices or other additions such as Irish Moss. Be sure to follow the recipe instructions when adding these to achieve the desired results in your beer. Cooling: Once you remove your wort from the heat you must immediately begin to cool it. The easiest way to do this is to prepare an ice bath in your sink. Simply fill your sink up with some cold water (make sure that the stopper is locked in the drain), add ice, and move your brew kettle to the sink. Make sure to use some sort of hand protection like oven mitts as the brew kettle/pot will be hot. Be sure to constantly replace the water and ice to keep the cooling process as rapid as possible. You’ll want to keep the brew kettle covered almost all of the way as the wort is very prone to infection and contamination at this point. If you haven’t sanitized your fermentation vessel, funnel, air lock, and rubber stopper yet you’ll need to do so during this cooling period. Monitor the temperature of your wort using a sanitized thermometer. You’ll need to drop the wort down to 70°F before transferring it to the fermentation vessel and adding the yeast. A good way to speed up the process is to allow the wort to chill to around 95°F and add the additional gallon of water you stored in the freezer/refrigerator at the beginning of your brewing process to rapidly cool the wort. Transfer: When you are transferring your wort from your brew kettle to your fermentation vessel you want to make sure you are fully prepared with all of the necessary, sanitized equipment. The steps are simple: 1. Add 2 gallons of water to your fermentation vessel. 2. Pour the cooled wort into the fermenter on top of the water. 3. Add any additional water needed to top off the batch so that it reaches the 5 gallon mark. 4. Seal the fermenter (lid or carboy bung depending on vessel) and rock the wort back and forth to aerate the wort. 5. Using your sanitized hydrometer measure and record your future beer’s original (specific) gravity (OG). Pitching Yeast: The proper brewing term for adding yeast to your wort is called pitching. If you have followed this guide correctly then your yeast should be ready to pitch into your wort. Using a sanitized pair of scissors open your yeast packet and sprinkle it on top of your wort. If you are using liquid yeast pour it into your wort. It is critical that you have followed all of the necessary sanitation steps up to this point. Any addition of bacteria and/or other contaminants can ruin your beer. Once you have added your yeast you want to seal the lid of your bucket or insert a sanitized rubber stopper into your carboy. Insert your airlock into the grommet or rubber stopper on your fermentation vessel. Fill the airlock with a sanitized solution (water + sanitizer); a small amount of vodka is an acceptable substitute as well. Depending on your recipe you may want to use a blow-off tube instead of an airlock initially. Storage: Storage of your fermenting wort is important; you’ll want to store it in a place with a consistent temperature. Basements and/or closets are great places to store your brew. You want to avoid contact with light (sunlight or other) so if you need to store it in an area that will be constantly exposed to light wrap a towel or blanket around your carboy. Ales should ferment around 67-71°F. Lagers should ferment around 45-55°F and may require a little ingenuity to ferment in a home situation. (Feel free to write us [email protected] for some of our simple solutions.) Fermentation: The fermentation process for your first brew will be fairly hands off for the most part. In 24-48 hours you should begin to see an active fermentation going on within your beer. A good way to judge this if you aren’t using a clear carboy is to check your airlock for bubbles. Fermentation is going to take about 4 weeks to complete. Sometimes you will want to transfer your beer to a secondary fermenter. Our Complete Beer Kits come pre- assembled with a secondary fermenter. Should you decide that you would like to transfer to a secondary fermenter follow the instructions below: Equipment: Tubing / Carboy or Bucket / Airlock / Rubber Stopper (for carboy) / Racking Tube or Auto-Siphon 1. Sanitize everything. We cannot stress this enough. Soak everything in a sanitizing solution and be sure to have a sanitized fermentation vessel on hand. 2. Set the current fermentation on an elevated platform above the secondary fermenter. (Kitchen counter and floor work fine.) 3. Racking is the process of transferring your beer from your fermenter to another vessel, removing it from the trub.